!!!Hofmusikkapelle

Hofmusikkapelle (Hofkapelle) court orchestra, Vienna. Its primary 
function was the musical accompaniment of mass at court; its 
beginnings can be traced back to the High Middle Ages. After the 
extinction of the Luxemburg dynasty in 1438 the court orchestra was 
taken over by the Habsburgs. At that time excellent musicians played 
in the Hofmusikkapelle; the first conductor of the court orchestra 
known by name was J. Brassart. 1498, the year of its reform under 
Maximilian I, is often referred to as the year of its creation. 
In early modern times more worldly functions become increasingly 
important, a development that reached its climax (with musicians such 
as A. Cesti, Ziani, J. J. Fux, G. Bononcini and A. Caldara) under 
the "Musikkaiser" (= musical emperors) Ferdinand III, 
Leopold I, Joseph I and especially Karl VI. Under Maria 
Theresia the activities of the court orchestra were more restricted. 
In the 19%%sup th/%  century they were limited to religious music and 
the court opera. The court orchestra was one of the last court 
institutions to be abolished (1921). The choirboys ("Kapellknaben") 
for chapel service, usually 10-15 boys who sang at Mass, were trained 
in the Hofmusikkapelle. When the Hofmusikkapelle was dissolved after 
World War I, the boys´ choir was reorganised under rector J. 
Schnitt to form the  Vienna Boys´ Choir, with several choirs. 
Until then no boys´ choirs of comparable size had existed in 
Vienna; the tradition of considering the Vienna Boys´ Choir the 
successor to the Kapellknaben solely rests on their participation in 
sung Sunday Mass in the Hofburgkapelle.


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